


Off the Leash

by wickedfetch



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Feelings, People Change People, Reyes isn't the only one with secrets, Secrets, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 11:19:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10898259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedfetch/pseuds/wickedfetch
Summary: Spoilers for Kadara Arc. In Drauillir secrets are revealed, causing Sara to explore what it all means to her.  One shot of the cave scene.





	Off the Leash

**Author's Note:**

> So a few things you should know about my Ryder. She's a bit...ruthless. For example she let Drack drop Aroane, and she shot Kalinda. She's a pragmatic infiltrator who's never really had time or an inclination for romance, so she didn't flirt with Jaal or Liam, and didn't intend to get drawn into anything with anyone. But then things happened in the game that changed her.
> 
> This is unrelated to the other multi-chapter I wrote, or at least I think it is, maybe they're connected. Who really knows how the muse works right?
> 
> So I wasn't expecting to write more, and certainly not sex...I feel really weird about it, but it seemed like that was what the two of them would (actually needed to) do, so that's what you've got. I hope it's not awkward or badly written, I'm a bit agonized over it actually, but sharing what you've written is a part of writing, so...here it is.

The cave was familiar, part of the complex leading to the Collective base she’d discovered weeks ago. A discovery where no one pulled a gun on her, even though she could have run and reported its location to Sloane and crippled whatever operation they had planned with the adhi and the mushrooms and whatever else they were hiding.

Sloane swaggered in front of her, Vetra and Cora trailing behind. Everyone was quiet, keeping their own thoughts. Why had she agreed to this? Sloane had summoned her, treated her like shit, demanded her protection, yanking on the pathfinder leash, and still here she was. 

Sara grit her teeth. Oh right, because the Initiative needed an outpost on Kadara. It was the only working economy in the cluster, it would bring the exiles back into the fold, and she wouldn’t need to worry about the Kett attacking the outpost. Sloane had at least gotten that right, a few weeks ago they had removed the last group together.

Was that what this was? One soldier to another? Sloane had seen her in combat and wanted to secure her for the upcoming confrontation. She knew there was a chance of an ambush and she trusted Sara to watch her back.

Sara glared at it as they pressed through the darkness. Sloane wasn’t her friend, commanding officer, or even her ally, and she resented the tug on her collar. Sloane offered the dust on her boots for Sara to lick, and now she was expecting her to kill for her if necessary.

She sighed, that was no different than Tann or Addison. She wondered what Dad would have done instead. She knew he licked nobody’s boots, felt the pull of nobody’s leash. 

She closed her eyes and followed Sloane’s loud footfalls, her announcement that she’d arrived. Sara opened her eyes when she detected light. She didn’t want to be here. It was another shitshow that somehow she would end up responsible for. Why had she let Sloane tug on her leash? Why had she even let her put one on her? What the fuck had happened?

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.” His voice floated on the air as he moved out of the shadows, and her thoughts stilled around a sick feeling, as if she’d been stabbed through her shields and armor.

“Reyes?” her voice was strangled, but Sloane didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t even put the obvious pieces together. Of course. Of course.

“They’re one and the same.”

“Surprise.” Reyes said, a hardness to his voice that sounded comfortable – if not to her ears.

“This whole time you’ve been lying to me.” The words tumbled out, and they locked eyes.

“Not about everything, you know who I really am.” His voice made her shudder, the naked plea in it, the spark in his eyes. He was facing Sloane, a deadly soldier, and he was looking at her, hoping she would understand. Asking that she understand, just asking.

She searched her thoughts as she looked back. The electricity between them, the lightness she felt around him, the freedom to just be Sara. Whenever they worked together it was right where she wanted to be, no tug on a leash to make her heel, something more than duty and responsibility pulling her toward him.

He was a Resistance spy, a smuggler, lies were his protection. Like Dad. He was right where he wanted to be, unafraid and unaffected by Sloane. No one held his leash, but still he was searching her eyes for something, as if she were pulling on him.

He proposed a duel to Sloane, something inside her jumped, and again the words came pouring out.

“You want to avoid war by shooting each other?” She choked out.

“Two people shooting each other is better than a lot of people shooting each other.” He said, his eyes locking with hers again. Her body twisted, like when SAM had turned on her biotics for the first time, an unpleasant sensation that ripped everything apart, making her feel slightly sick and unsteady. Her mind flashed an image of Reyes lying in the dust, a growing pool of blood around him, and her hand twitched toward her pistol.

“I’ll take those terms.” Sloane said with an almost sneer, confident in her ability.

Reyes’s eyes flicked toward Sara as his mouth tightened in concentration. Sara bit her cheek as she tracked his movements. He and Sloane turned in a slow circle, their feet kicking up dust as their hands twitched near their pistols. SAM pointed out the sniper. 

This was why Sloane had dragged her along, in case of trickery. She was counting on Sara to intervene, to save her. She could push Sloane out of the way, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to save Sloane, and she resented the woman for putting her here. She resented all of them. Dad for dragging them along, for putting SAM in her head, Tann and Addison fucking it all up so bad that Sloane became a megalomaniacal monster. This wasn’t her fight. This wasn’t her decision.

Sloane had the exiles loyalty, if she’d been a half-decent human being instead of a despicable hypocrite the Collective would never have had the chance to gain power. What did she think would happen in the end? She’d turned Kadara into a criminal kingdom and was surprised when it turned on her? 

Her stomach was somersaulting as her mind tossed about, and her throat was tight as a shot rang out and Sloane fell. Reyes said things, but she didn’t hear them. It wasn’t important. This wasn’t hers, it was his, and he knew it. Cora and Vetra made uncomfortable noises behind her but she didn’t care. 

He had manipulated Sloane her, preyed on her machismo, turned her so his sniper would have a clear shot. It was masterfully done, a symphony composed with pragmatic forethought and executed with precise calm. She admired it. She closed her eyes, remembering Dad, how hard he’d fought to save Mom. He knew what he wanted and he’d gone after it. Had she ever known what she’d wanted?

She’d thought she could find it here, in Andromeda, it was why she’d been so excited to come, and she had. Saving the Initiative, giving everyone a shot, that’s what she wanted. Right?

“Guess you got everything you wanted.” She said, he was someone now wasn’t he? 

“What I want is peace. Sloane would have brought war to Heleus. We don’t have the population to survive that.” He said, surprising her. He had to know that’s what she wanted too, her actions spoke that loud enough for the entire fucking cluster to hear.

“Why didn’t you trust me?” She asked. Why hadn’t he asked for her help? 

“I…liked the way you looked at me. I was afraid that would change.” He said, looking more nervous than when facing down Sloane, or Zia, or Farah. Had anyone ever looked at her like that? Afraid of what she thought of them? 

Yes. He’d looked at her like that moments before the best kiss of her life, and when Umi had taunted him with Zia, his ex. She felt everything settle. Nothing had changed between them, somehow, being here, it hadn’t changed how she felt about it, about him.

“Nothing’s changed.” She said, surprised how confident her voice was, no tremble, no uncertainty.

“You have bad taste in men.” Reyes said, teasing them both before he pressed her against the rock wall, his hand bracing himself as he devoured her mouth. Their armor clinked against each other, as she replied, “the worst.”

She could feel his smile as he moved to kiss down her neck. His lips left a hum behind them, and his hand gripped her hip strong enough that she could feel it through her armor. She pulled him closer, frustrated by the thick layers between them, and he brought one of his knees between her legs as he returned to her mouth.

He kissed her with an incendiary urgency, and she felt unleashed. She pushed him back gently and pulled at the clasps on her armor, but his hands stopped her.

“Not here.” 

“I swear to God Reyes, if you put the brakes on this…“ She said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into another passageway, deeper into the shadows.

“I have no intention of stopping Sara.” He said, pulling off each glove and tossing them to the ground before pressing her into the wall again.

“None at all.” He said as he kissed her neck, “not ever” as his hands slid down her armor pulling clasps and releasing her body.

Sara yanked her gloves off and reached for one of the zippers she could half see in the dark as his hand snaked into her hair and loosed it from her pony tail. His light armor was easy to release, and she managed to work it off his torso and arms despite the distraction his lips and tongue were working along her neck and collar bone. 

She heard the thunk of a piece of her armor hitting the ground, then another. The warm, moist cave air touched her skin and she shivered. He ran his fingertips along the goosebumps forming on her arms, a soft caress that surprised her.

“You are so lovely.” He husked in her ear as his hands began working on the leg-armor attachments.

“You can’t even see me in this dark.” She said, rolling her eyes.

He stopped what he was doing, and put his hand under her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, “of course I can.”

She squirmed under his scrutiny as he stepped back and looked her over. She was nowhere near as sexy as Zia, she knew her hair and make up were a haphazard mess, and she wasn’t exactly dressed to impress, a regular, not even matching, bra and panties. His hands released the top parts of her leg armor, making her shiver again.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” He said, moving close again, and pressing his hips into hers. He chuckled at her involuntary gasp, “see” and kissed her with intensity as her arms twined around his neck. He again moved a knee between her legs, and pulled an arm around her waist to lift her and press her against the rocks.

Her body thrummed with energy as she pushed against him, filled with urgency. His other hand moved to her thigh, closer and closer to where she wanted it, and his mouth captured her moan as he slipped a finger inside her. She threw her head back, knocking it against the rocks, “ouch”.

He stopped immediately, “you alright?” and she giggled, “I seem to remember a promise about not stopping?”

He gave her a devilish grin as he eased back, dropping her feet back to the ground, but before she could complain he’d dropped to his knees, reaching for her panties and pulling them down. Oh God, was he? Was he? Her stomach flipped in nerves, she’d only had a guy do this for her a few times before and never standing up. She clung to the rocks as his hands ran down her thighs, gently pushing them apart.

“I’ve got you.” He said, pulling one of her legs over his shoulder and bracing that hand into the rocks. She glanced down at him, surprised to see a reassuring seriousness to his expression. Neither of them moved until finally she nodded her head.

His lips were gentle, and she jumped at the contact. He was the one at her feet, why did she feel so nervous? His tongue moved against her, slow and firm. When she moaned he repeated the movement, just as she wanted it. Her legs trembled, and he increased his pace, working an unexpected crescendo that broke over entire body. She sagged against the rocks, holding her breath to keep from screaming.

He kept going, breaking another, everything narrowing and exploding into one point of contact. She fell onto his shoulder, unsteady, and still he didn’t stop. 

“Reyes…” she gasped, reaching for him. He squeezed her waist with his other hand, then caressed down and slipped a finger inside her, knowing what she wanted. 

She felt free, soaring high. Reyes touched her firmly, gently, without hesitation, coaxing her. Reyes who smiled and winked and teased. Reyes who thought she was beautiful, lovely. Reyes who'd grabbed her hand with a laugh as they escaped Sloane's party. Reyes who was down at her feet, urgent and reverent and precise and patient. Reyes who was wringing symphonies from her nerves. She cried out again, and he slowed, working her through it. 

Reyes who set her foot down, and kissed his way back up to her, ran his hands along her skin as she traced a pattern on his bare chest. Reyes who groaned, resting his head against the rocks as she reached lower, squeezing him.

“Sara…” he whispered, pulling back to lock eyes with her again. She caressed his face as he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his back as he pushed inside her, his eyes fixed on hers as he began to move.

“Mi alma” he whispered against her ear as one hand palmed her breast while the other braced her, cradled her to him. He kissed along her neck, then his lips replaced his hand at her breast, sucking and laving her nipple. Sara sighed, feeling something deep and slow building, breaking, cascading. She trembled against him, and he captured her shout with a kiss before groaning “mi cielita” against her neck as he shuddered inside her.

“That was…” she trailed off with a languorous sigh.

Not what she expected when she’d walked into the cave today? The best set of orgasms she’d ever experienced? A celebration of his success?

She expected a cocky grin, or a wink, perhaps a smug expression of a conqueror from him. He’d set her down, and she’d strap her armor back on and they’d say goodbye, thanks, or whatever, awkwardly before extricating themselves, but he didn’t set her down. 

He leaned back slightly, and caressed her face before kissing her with a tenderness that made her feel…? Cherished? He looked at her, with a soft intensity that took her breath away.

"Amazing." He said, holding her tight to him again, "you're amazing, mi carina."

She smiled at him, and kissed him with passion that left them both breathless. She could feel the tug of her responsibilities, and could see his responsibilities falling onto his shoulders. 

"I..." she started, not knowing how to say it. She'd never felt such a thread to another person, and whatever it was, it was stronger now. The crash of the tension bringing somehow more intensity, more of a pull. 

"I don't want to go." She finally managed and he sighed, "me either. But..."

"Duty calls." She said, and he nodded.

"Sara, I, this...there's.. there's no one else." he said it haltingly, hesitant and unsure.

"Good." She said, and he pulled her in for a hug with a laugh.

"So we're...?" she said.

"Together. Yes." Reyes said, his expression bright, yet serious, an almost goofy grin broke out on her face.

"I guess I was wrong, everything's changed." She said, and he grabbed her hand as they walked out of the cave.

They paused near the mouth, where their people waited for them, where they would separate for probably weeks. She didn't want to go. Didn't want to go and deal with Angara, Elaaden, the architect on Voeld.

"I just want to stay here." She said as Reyes pulled her close, holding her with a fierceness against the sun outside.

"I'll miss you." Reyes said, his voice quiet as he pulled back and kissed her forehead, "everyday I'll be watching for your ship."

"We can email you know." She said, rolling her eyes as he laughed and nodded.

"You're someone I'd happily wait for." He said, squeezing her hands one last time before dropping them and heading to his shuttle.

She wanted to watch it climb away into the sky, but Vetra was clicking her mandibles and she could feel Cora radiating disapproval. They both gave her sidelong glances as they all got into the Nomad. She could feel their disapproval, the way it pulled her off balance, but she wasn't going to let it sway her. She knew what she wanted and she was going to go after it the way Dad had, the way Mom had wanted her to. That was the last thing she'd told Sara, to fall in love at least once, to feel the pull of something more than duty or family or responsibility. 

She'd died twice since coming here already, actually died. Her heart had stopped. She'd been shot, and stabbed. She still had Meridian to take, more battles to fight, and she wanted more than to be the pathfinder, she wanted to be Sara, she wanted to be someone, and she was going to do whatever it took.

**Author's Note:**

> There. They figured it out, or at least, they're trying to. I can't imagine things will be smooth sailing for them for a variety of reasons, and not just because the Collective is a criminal enterprise. I'm not sure how long they'll manage to be together, but sometimes two broken people manage to help each other become whole, so who knows? Or maybe they'll destroy each other in a magnificently angsty super-nova.


End file.
